


Mooncalves

by SlytherinOwl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Banging Pots and Pans, Crossover, F/M, National Park, New Zealand, alcohol is bad for you kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28416912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinOwl/pseuds/SlytherinOwl
Summary: Hermione was on a work trip to observe a local herd of Mooncalves in New Zealand. Steve, Tony, Clint and Thor were in New Zealand to help Tony get over his break-up with Pepper, much to Steve's annoyance.What could possibly go wrong?Written for Hermione's Holiday Hideaway 2020.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Steve Rogers
Comments: 2
Kudos: 50
Collections: Hermione's Holiday Hideaway 2020





	Mooncalves

Hermione was visiting the Tongariro National Park in New Zealand because a large number of Mooncalves had been spotted there. As they had become increasingly rare in other parts of the world, a new population was worth looking into, so Hermione travelled over there as a Ministry representative.

It did not hurt either that it was where Lord of the Rings was filmed. She loved those movies, almost as much as she loved the books.

When she had arrived, she quickly realised that it was more beautiful than pictures could properly convey. Hermione was amazed at the beautiful waterfalls and lakes especially and highly enjoyed hiking through the National Park.

The only thing that was suspiciously missing after a week of her spending her time in the park were the Mooncalves. She knew they only rarely leave their burrows when it’s not the full moon, but she had been rather optimistic that she might still get lucky.

It had not happened, but today was the night of the full moon and Hermione was determined to finally get some studying of the Mooncalves herd done.

What she had not accounted for was that some of the so called “Avengers” were on a much-needed holiday in New Zealand as well. But.. that was not going to impact her, right?

* * *

Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Tony Stark and Thor had decided that they needed a bit of Teambuilding. That, added with the break-up of Tony and Pepper and Thor’s still pining over Jane, led to the four of them spending time in a small cabin in the Tongariro National Park. To “just get away from it all” as Tony had said.

Steve was not exactly pleased with ending up in the middle of nowhere with these three guys, but he still was not completely comfortable in this new world he had woken up in, and his team was the closest he still had to a family. So, when they decided a trip that would span into the new year, he really had no reason to refuse.

Or at least not one he could actually say out loud.

So here was.

On New Year’s Eve. He sat outside the small cabin, where Clint, Tony and Thor were various degrees of drunk. One of his hands rubbed his brow in frustration. Even keeping up with Thor had not make him drunk enough to be able to endure Tony’s lewd comments for hours on end.

* * *

Hermione thought she was quite stealthy. She did not use magic, afraid of disturbing the Mooncalves in any way, and was making her way through the terrain. She was happy that the moon was full and shining bright, though being alone in a huge national park made her think of her experience in third year. She sincerely hoped that there were no werewolves roaming free.

She finally had found a group of bushes that she could hide comfortably in that were positioned so she had a clear view over a large open field. Now only time would tell if she got lucky and the Mooncalves emerged.

* * *

The hour grew later and later. Steve had re-joined the group, then went to sit outside again. He was sure he had heard steps earlier, but could not see anyone. Tony told him he was being paranoid, but Steve knew someone was around. And there really shouldn’t be. They might be in a National Park, but they were on a bit of land that was highly secured, or else they wouldn’t have gone there. So, who had managed to breach their security? Or was it just an accident? Did they even realise that people were around?

Steve was so lost in his thoughts, he did not realise they had entered the new year. No one inside had told him either, so he thought he might get a heart attack when suddenly the three man who had been inside the cabin a second ago, ran outside, screaming and banging pots and pans from the cabin’s kitchen.

Steve had one of his hands clutched to his chest.

“What the hell are you doing?” He wanted to ask. But the voice was not his, but a feminine, very angry voice from his left.

* * *

Hermione had been hiding out in the bushes for hours. She had not even noticed the new year creeping closer and closer. And her patience was finally rewarded. Slowly and steadily, Mooncalves came out of their burrows. They had been so well hidden that it had been impossible to locate them, but now she had their location! She quickly counted – at least twenty of the Calves were on just this field.

She was ecstatic.

Until suddenly a ruckus from a treeline behind Hermione had all the calves turning their heads, and then disappearing into their burrows again.

The witch clenched her hands in frustration and let out a growl. Whoever that was, they were going to pay.

She stood up and strode through the treeline. Behind the trees there was a small cabin, and around that cabin were four men.

Not children. Men.

And they were banging pots and pans.

For a second Hermione thought her eye had started twitching again in annoyance – an unfortunate tic she had developed while on the run with Harry and Ron – and perhaps it had, but she did not stand around to find out. She made her way over to the man.

Two of them were really tall, the other two were on the shorter side, though still taller than herself.

“What the hell are you doing?” She demanded to know and shot daggers at the men.

One of the was holding up his empty hands in surrender in a gesture that was supposed to show his innocence. Given that he was the only one not clutching onto cutlery and other kitchen utensils, it worked.

“Banging pots and pans! Happy New Year!” One of the shorter men, the one with brown hair and an interesting choice in beard, told her gleefully.

Hermione glanced at her watch. It was indeed past midnight.

And she doubted the calves on this field would turn up again. She sighed in frustration and put her head back for a second while contemplating whether she should do anything about those men.

“And why exactly were you banging pots and pans?” She asked, her patience not being nearly as big as it had been for the Mooncalves.

“To ward of evil of course!” The large man with a pot in his hand bellowed.

“It’s a tradition to frighten away the goblins and witches coming for you!” He continued, while the short man with brown hair let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like “and your brother”.

Hermione was trying not to let her amusement show. If they were trying to frighten off witches, they had seriously messed up.

“I was trying to get a good look at some local wildlife. And you scared it off,” she snapped.

The tall man who had been silent so far started to apologise – though he wasn’t even involved in driving the Mooncalves off! – only for the bearded one to interrupt again.

“Oh, they’ll still be here tomorrow! Lighten up! Have a good time! Who is doing research on New Year’s anyway?”

Hermione was about to snap again when he added, “also, who wouldn’t want to ring in the New Year with Hawkeye, Captain America, Thor and Iron Man!”

He sounded was too pleased with himself. The witch was speechless. These were men that made up a large part of the Avengers?

Her eyes went over them again. If you knew who they were, it was actually quite obvious.

The silent, smaller one was Hawkeye. Even though obviously drunk, he was keeping a close eye on her.

The bearded one was Iron Man, his self-satisfied smirk had been all over the news after the invasion of New York.

The loud, tall one must be Thor. He had long hair and was dressed slightly off.

Humanity was doomed, with those three drunkards as their protectors.

Then her eyes wandered to the tall one that had been silent so far. He was definitely not drunk, was watching her with intelligent eyes and was not one to bang pots and pans in the middle of a National Park. That was Captain America.

And though Hermione was not exactly impressed with his name of choice, she couldn’t help but think that maybe humanity wasn’t quite as doomed as she first thought.

* * *

For Steve her appearance had solved the riddle of who was hiding barely out of reach of their cabin. A pretty woman with curls that seemed to have a life of their own, intelligent brown eyes and enough temper to probably whip Iron Man back into shape, if she was given the chance.

He looked at her another moment. Something was different about her, and it was not her accent. Something made him feel as though she was familiar. As though she was exactly where she should be.

“Would you like to stay?” He heard himself rush out before he was thinking it through.

Three men and a witch - not that he knew _that_ \- were intently staring at him now.

* * *

“I…” Hermione trailed off at first, but she could not take her eyes off Captain America. Something was so familiar about him. A part of her ached to spend the rest of the night in his company, snuggled into a warm cosy blanket. She didn’t know why; men didn’t usually inspire such feelings in her. But maybe it was worth finding out what made her want to stay.

“Yes. Thank you for inviting me. My name is Hermione.” She looked straight at the man who had invited her. His face lit up in a smile.

“I’m Steve. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

And without another word Steve led Hermione into the cabin, neither of the two sparing another glance at the three highly confused Avengers who were still holding onto their pots and pans.

“What was…” Tony trailed off and gestured vaguely in the direction of the cabin’s door.

“I have no idea,” Clint replied with a shrug, feeling confused and still having his gaze focused on the door.

“Should we… leave them alone for a bit?” Thor suggested, in an uncharacteristic fit of consideration.

“Nah. We’ve got to supervise those two,” Tony decided, and with that the three followed Hermione and Steve into the cabin, just to see the two sitting next to each other on the sofa, smiling at each other as though they’d never wanted to look away from each other again.

* * *

As it turns out, Hermione and Steve were both ecstatic that the other three men had decided drinking and making obnoxiously loud noises in a National Park was a great idea. Who knows If they’d met otherwise?

And Hermione was sure that she would still have the oportunity to study the Mooncalves. Maybe even with Steve?


End file.
